


Part of Your World

by iam93percentstardust



Series: Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, M/M, Moodboard & a Tiny Fic, Pre-Relationship, Team as Family, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27800764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iam93percentstardust/pseuds/iam93percentstardust
Summary: Tony grows up without a pod.Howard doesn't believe in pods, after all, even though nearly every other killer whale-mer out there has one. But the Stark patriarch is convinced that he's too good to need a pod, too special, too skilled a hunter. Pods are for weaklings who can't hunt for themselves, not for the likes of Howard Stark.Uncharitably, Tony thinks that maybe a pod might have saved Howard from the kraken.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team
Series: Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984891
Comments: 12
Kudos: 227
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV





	Part of Your World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sagana_Rojana_Olt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sagana_Rojana_Olt/gifts).



> saganarojanaolt and I were talking about orcas being vilified in like every documentary ever and then somehow we ended up on the topic of Tony as a killer whale-mer so here’s a moodboard and a tiny fic
> 
> Title: Part of Your World  
> Collaborator: iam93percentstardust  
> Card Number: 4012  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27800764  
> Square Filled: R3 - Teenage Tony  
> Ship: Winteriron, Team as Family  
> Rating: T  
> Major Tags: Mermaid AU, Tony Needs a Hug, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting  
> Summary: Tony grows up without a pod.  
> Howard doesn't believe in pods, after all, even though nearly every other killer whale-mer out there has one. But the Stark patriarch is convinced that he's too good to need a pod, too special, too skilled a hunter. Pods are for weaklings who can't hunt for themselves, not for the likes of Howard Stark.  
> Uncharitably, Tony thinks that maybe a pod might have saved Howard from the kraken.  
> Word Count: 965

Tony grows up without a pod.

Howard doesn't believe in pods, after all, even though nearly every other killer whale-mer out there has one. But the Stark patriarch is convinced that he's too good to need a pod, too special, too skilled a hunter. Pods are for weaklings who can't hunt for themselves, not for the likes of Howard Stark.

Uncharitably, Tony thinks that maybe a pod might have saved Howard from the kraken. Slightly more charitably, he thinks that a pod might have saved his mother too, but she had never even lifted a finger to save Tony from Howard's vicious words and sharp teeth, so he can't bring himself to grieve longer than the required amount of time before he sets off into the ocean, determined to find a pod for himself. The ocean is a dangerous place for a lone mer, even for an orca like Tony.

The problem is, his kind aren't exactly looked favorably upon, even by other dangerous mers. Orcas are seen as deadly, unnecessarily cruel, and vicious, likely to turn on someone for their next meal and definitely not the kind of person that any mer wants to be seen with. There's a reason orca-mers live together and rarely leave their pods. Tony had never even _seen_ a lone orca before Howard and Maria were killed.

He searches for a pod for years, swimming from one part of the ocean to the next, looking for a place - a _family_ \- to call his own. But he's as unlucky on his own as he was with his family. He never finds a pod and, more often than not, he finds trouble. As Tony grows from his childhood into his adolescence, he finds himself getting caught up with two tiger shark-mers, Tiberius and Obadiah, far more cruel than his kind could ever be, but willing to offer him a place to stay for at least a little while. Tony accepts, desperate to feel like he belongs somewhere - _anywhere_ \- even though he knows Tiberius and Obadiah just want him for his species, believing that he'll be able to help them hunt. It's a mistake. They use him, abuse him, and when he's finally abandoned after a battle with one of the great leviathans, he drifts in the empty ocean, weak and injured and likely dying, fully believing that this is where he belongs.

It's Pepper who finds him, Pepper the beautiful jelly-mer who takes his bleeding, broken body to the sea witch. Yinsen places a pearl in his chest and tells him that as long as it glows, he will live. He spends three months with Pepper and Yinsen, the happiest months of his life, and he wishes that he could stay forever though he knows that would be impossible. He is an orca after all and while Pepper and Yinsen are both dangerous mers in their own rights, neither of them deserve to be saddled with an orca.

And then - _and then_.

The day he finally decides to leave, that he can't keep imposing on Pepper and Yinsen, a mer swims through the cave entrance. And not just any mer - _someone like him._ He stares at the beautiful merman with his black and white tail, sleek dorsal fin, and perfectly shaped flukes. His left arm is badly mangled but that doesn't even remotely hide how _gorgeous_ the mer is. Tony finds himself completely unable to tear his gaze away from those rippling pectorals, at least that is, until he hears a chuckle.

Slowly, he raises his gaze to the mer's, who is watching him with a strange mix of amusement and heat in his eyes. "And who might you be, angelfish?" the mer asks him.

Tony blushes at the thought of this mer calling him pretty. He hasn't been pretty in a long time, he's covered in scars and there's a pearl in his chest and - and he aches to be pretty again.

But then the mer asks him curiously, "Where's your pod?"

Tony looks away. How can he say it? How can he admit that he's never had a pod, that he's never been _good_ enough for a pod? "I-" he begins and then falters. This beautiful mer thinks he's pretty and even though he knows he's not, he's not ready to lose that look in the mer's eyes just yet.

"Gone, huh?" the mer asks sympathetically, and when Tony looks back at him, there's no disgust in his eyes. It's been a long time since anyone other than Pepper or Yinsen looked at him like that. "Mine too."

"You're alone?" Tony asks, surprised.

The mer shakes his head and Tony's heart starts to sink again. "Nah," the mer tells him. "I found a new pod, one made up of mers just like us." He tilts his head, considering Tony. And Tony just knows that it's coming, knows that he will be found lacking again, just as he always is. But then the mer does something surprising: he holds out his hand to Tony. "Come on, I'll show you."

Maybe it's a trap. Maybe it's another mistake, just like Tiberius and Obadiah were. But...

But he _wants_. 

He takes the mer's hand, lets him lead him out into the ocean where he can hear the pod now, see them as they come zooming up to meet the mer. They don't even hesitate over seeing Tony there, just tease the mer about picking up yet another stray. The mer's hand tightens on Tony's as they listen to the ribbing, like he thinks maybe Tony will leave after he hears it. He doesn't. He _can't_ , this is what he's wanted all his life, and now that it looks like it might be within his reach, Tony is never going to let go.


End file.
